The Chase Upon the Waking Sea
by Duskers
Summary: Chasing down a bounty for a growing band of pirates, The Iron Bull and his Chargers take to the seas! With mostly untested sea legs, a seasick ma - I mean, archer, and an extremely experienced Rivaini captain as their target, can they manage to grab the bounty? Takes place after Isabela leaving Hawke for good with the Qunari book, but before the Templar/Mage conflict.
1. Chapter 1

The Orlesian plains seemed to stretch on forever, even more than the Waking Sea resting beside it. A weary horse hung its head and dragged its feet. Iron Bull stared down at the tired beast, a look of pity crossing his face, before finally sighing and hopping off her back, "I guess I can't expect a mount not trained to carry a Qunari to last the whole trip. Especially one with muscles as -".

"As dense as that thick skull?" Krem chimed in, mounted on top of his own horse, it still full of energy, "With the bounty you've got us chasing this time, I can't blame the thing."

Bull smirked at the jab, "Ah, c'mon Krem, it's just a little sea voyage. Kick a few pirates in the head, return to Orlais, get the bounty, and you never have to set sail again." Krem just stared, half-jokingly raising an eyebrow, "Bah," Bull turned to the rest of the Chargers, "all the other guys like the idea of the open seas, right?"

The rest of the Bull's Chargers rested on their horses behind Krem, some having to share mounts. Most stared at Bull much in the same way Krem did, Dalish seemed queasy, and Grim answered with a reassuring grunt.

Bull raised a hand, pointing with an open palm at the Chargers, "See?" Krem only grinned and shook his head. Bull digressed, retreating his hand to the top of his head. "Look, I know we aren't exactly swashbuckling navy-men," Dalish raised her 'bow' to that, "but we've taken down everything from giant spiders to giant, possessed cheese wheels to actual giants. What's captaining a ship to us?"

"Foreign, Chief." All the other Chargers except Grim nodded at Krem's remark, "How can we be expected to pilot a ship into the Waking Sea, let alone win a battle against the Raiders?"

Bull sighed, patted the side of his horse, and walked closer to his mercenary band. He looked to Grim, then to Dalish, scanning his crew and thinking. Finally, he turned his gaze to Krem, a feeling of confidence rising inside himself.

"Alright, you want to know how we do this? Here's the plan. Grim, you're the navigator. I'm...pretty sure you've been one before?" Grim grunted again, "Good. Rocky, I don't know if you've got any tricks in that pack of yours, but anything and everything is worth it. We don't need them alive, we just need their flag." Rocky, sitting behind Stitches, seemed to get excited at that idea.

"Stitches, you're in charge of the masts unless someone gets hurt. Keep that sword arm ready, though." Stitches nodded. "Dalish," she almost tried to hide behind her horse, "I need those archer eyes and bow in the crows nest." Dalish seemed ready to faint, cursing her 'archer' ploy under her breath. Bull just smirked, along with the rest of the Chargers.

"Skinner, you and I have the fun job." Skinner seemed in a daze at first, but hearing her name and 'fun' together got her attention well, "As confident as I am in our ability to do this, I'm that much more confident in our ability to fight. So…" Bull reached into the pack he had strapped on his horse and pulled out a long rope attached to a grappling hook, "We're gonna make sure we _get_ to fight." Not just Skinner's, but everyone's face seemed to light up at this statement.

He then went through commands for all the other Chargers, ranging from deck sweeper to boat rower. After Bull finished issuing the last job, everyone was just as confident as he was. They felt ready to take on a Qunari dreadnought. Even Bull's horse seemed to be reinvigorated. Having succesfully restored his company's resolve, he climbed back onto his horse and signalled for everyone to move forward.

"Wait, Chief," Krem had been sitting on his mount awaiting his important job. After all, he _was_ the Luitenant. "What's my job?"

"Oh, almost forgot!" Bull chuckled a bit, "You're on bilge duty, Krem." Krem coughed a little at the statement. The other Chargers laughed and began heading out behind Bull. It took Krem a few moments of disbelief to realize he was being left behind. He quickly trodded along after them and they continued their journey East to the docks.

Further down the shore, after singing the anthem of the Bull's Chargers a dozen times, taking a break after Skinner found just the _perfect_ tree to mark her territory, and then singing the anthem _another_ dozen times, the sun was finally setting. Despite them doing their damndest to get to the docks as soon as possible, they'd lost a few hours from all the stops the Chargers had to make. Bull called for them to set up camp.

Bull and a few of the Chargers went off to collect any wood they could find. The plains of the Orlesian heartlands had been so heavily colonized that un-claimed dry wood was hard to come across. Luckily, the Chargers didn't care too much what some pompous Orlesian thought about them grabbing a couple twigs...As long as they didn't see them.

Others grabbed tents and supplies, spreading them out around the camp and fought over spots near the fire. Krem kept watch of the horses. With nothing to tie them to, everyone was only hoping they'd stick around the camp. They were already sharing saddles as it was.

Rocky set up the fire pit, despite Stitches' request not to. Not after last time when one of his 'gaatlok' prototype bombs fell into the pit. They had ran out of all their bandages in one night!

Once the group hunting for dry wood returned, everything had been set up. Bull appeared behind them, carrying two large logs on his shoulders and set them down by the fire pit. The others threw their firewood into the pit and Dalish 'shot an arrow', setting it aflame.

"You know," Rocky smirked at Dalish, "I really need to learn how you set things on fire with arrows."

Dalish pointed to a burn scar on her arm, likely from Rocky's accident, "No, you don't." Dalish smirked back at him.

Krem walked over to the fire, finding a spot on the log across from The Iron Bull, "Fucking Orlesians, sending us damn near to the Frostbacks just to get a boat," He murmered, "Orlais _has_ a harbor."

"Yeah, but it's too busy with traders to make room for a battle vessel. Also, it takes a real special person to actually get a personal dock in that harbor." Bull butted into Krem's murmurs, "And damn if we'd be lucky enough to get connections to someone like _that._ "

Krem poked at the fire with a twig, glancing over to the Chargers now gathering around the fire, "So Chief, you ever been on the sea? In one of those Qunari dreadnoughts? You seem to know enough about ships."

Bull raised his head, thinking back to his Par Vollen days, "Mostly as a landing troop, someone to rush the enemy when we hit shore. It felt good being in one, though. Made you feel...powerful, even if you weren't doing anything," Bull noticed the others beginning to fixate on the conversation, "The way the crew would work as a single unit; it was really impressive.

"Might have wanted to be part of the navy had I not been so good at lieing." Krem smiled at Bull, as did many of his men.

"So is that why you wanted to collect the bounty?" Krem grabbed an apple from a nearby supply cache.

"Hm?" Bull seemed distracted.

Krem chomped on the apple, making an audible crunch, "You know, making us chase pirates." His words were muffled by the fruit, but Bull understood him.

"Maybe. But did you _see_ the bounty on that Raider?" Krem shook his head, still chewing, "50 000 gold!" Krem suddenly choked on his apple, spitting it out into the fire.

He gasped, trying to recover, "50 000!? That's insane! What kind of noble did they piss off!?" The other Chargers seemed as surprised as Krem. Grim even raised an eyebrow.

"With that kind of money, I could buy the gaatlok off Qunari!" Rocky laughed in disbelief.

"Qunari wouldn't sell you gaatlok if you offered a chicken that shat out its weight in gold every two seconds. You might want to quit while you're ahead, Rocky," Bull shook his head at the tenacious dwarf, "Anyway, I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting damn thirsty. Someone grab one of the casks. The hangover might help our sea legs tomorrow."

The Chargers all roared as the cask was cut open. Bull enjoyed the night as much as he could. Sometimes he treasured his acting ability, other times he cursed it. Tonight, he wasn't sure which he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Krem rolled over in his tent, the unpleasant hangover headache greeting his waking. He swore he drank an entire cask last night. Something...he normally doesn't do. Bull. It was Bull who edged him on.

Despite how hard and painful it was to think, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off; with Bull, specifically. He'd seemed determined to make everyone drunk out of their minds. Normally he'd be content just making _himself_ wasted. Maybe he's just as weary about seafaring as the Chargers were and all his talk was just bravado? 'Chief _would_ get us drunk out of our minds the day before we all died.' Krem thought to himself, then cradled his forehead in pain.

Krem soon heard dragging moans coming from outside. Seems everyone else was just as hungover as he was. He slowly crawled to the opening in the tent, carefully raising his head and getting to his feet. Looking around, Krem saw Grim and Rocky already up. Dalish and the others were still trying their best to muster themselves.

Rocky and Grim sat by the now-extinguished fire pit, wearing little more than their trousers. Krem was also mostly naked, the three not giving their cleavage a second thought. After travelling together for so long, everyone had seen everyone in their smallclothes. Skinner maybe a bit more than was nessecary.

The morning air was crisp and calm. One might even hear a snoring Bull across the way, one who was always as stubborn to wake as they are to fall in battle. Bull would claim it was because he had a larger body and needed more energy for it. A different Charger would always exclaim 'Bullshit!' from across camp everytime he said that.

Soon, everyone was up, with Bull clumsily stumbling his way to his feet in his polka dotted trousers. "Still drunk? Were you sleep drinking?" Stitches remarked as Bull reeled, off-balance.

"I'm fine...just getting ready for the water," Bull shook his head, trying to gain some sense and footing, "Need to get a feeling for the waves early, ya see." He grinned, gingerly sitting down on the log by the fire pit. The head shaking wasn't a good idea.

"Maybe I should try that." Dalish muttered in a daze.

"You're already confused about how you fight," Rocky spoke as quietly and softly as a Dwarf could, so as to not irritate his skull, "We don't need you confused about which way the Stone is, too." Dalish just shrugged at him.

Bull sighed, rubbed the top of his head while groaning, then tried to catch the Chargers' attention, "Alright guys, we've got an hour to wake up and shake the night off until we pack up and head out. We should reach the docks before noon." The team nodded to Bull and went off to their own places. Krem came to his side, carefully lowering himself to a sit next to him, both of them staring at the coals in the fire pit.

"So, why'd you want us drunk last night?" Krem was half expecting Bull to make something up or joke about Krem looking too far into things. Krem knew something was up, especially considering Bull's Qunari 'contacts'. Despite his unwavering loyalty, deep down, he found it hard to trust Bull and his secret spy life. He'd die for the one-eyed bastard, sure, but he would like to know what him dieing would be for. The team or the Qun.

Bull mulled over Krem's words for a second, slightly surprised he saw through his act. He'd been upfront about pretty much everything regarding his life as a spy, but this mission was different. The fact of the matter was they _weren't_ sailors and the captain of the vessel with the bounty took on a dreadnought and _survived_. Bull was nearly certain this was a suicide mission. He was ready to die for the Qun, but his team? They'd probably look at this and scoff, end up losing a lot of respect for him, too.

"You wouldn't send us out on the sea if you didn't have to. You might be an idiot, but you're smart enough to know the difference between an army and a navy," Krem's voice had a seedling of anger, but it was mostly apathy. He shifted his gaze from the fire pit to Bull, "It's for the damn Qun, isn't it?" Bull grunted immediately at the mention of the Qun, looking around to see if anyone was in earshot. No one was, so he nodded, locking his eyes on the horizon.

"The vessel with the bounty on it is captained by a Rivaini fugitive. They stole one of the oldest, most important texts concerning the Qun. She and the Arishok were hold up in Kirkwall for a few years, and when the Arishok acted of his own volition and stormed Kirkwall, she fled with the book. I hear someone stopped the invasion, killed the Arishok themself," Bull's voice was grim and flat. Krem's face had become slightly less angry and more attentive, "The Qunari back home demeaned the Arishok's actions, denied any involvement, and claimed their business down South was done," Bull's eyes gazed low, "But that's not true...and this mission is proof of that."

Krem had noticed Bull's concern with others overhearing them, so he lowered his voice, "Why didn't you tell us any of this? You've been up front about your Qun shit in the past." He paused a moment, "...Or have you?"

Bull's demeanor changed at the allegation. He hunched himself over, placing his forehead in his right palm. He tried to sound as sincere as he actually was. "This is the first and only time, Krem. I... _hope_ we can do this, but you were right to be worried. The chances of us winning are slim. I didn't want you guys thinking this was for the Qun. I can't let you die thinking that."

Krem closed his eyes and turned back to the fire pit, "You don't suppose she's already sold the book, do you?"

Bull shook his head slowly, frowning, "Doesn't matter. Book or no, the Qun wants her dead and I'm the best agent around for the job."

Krem sighed, "Vengeful bunch of folk, you Qunari. So, do you have anything on her? A name? Does she like to do backflips while fighting? Swashbucklers always like their showmanship."

Bull's eyes widened a bit and he turned his frown to Krem, but it was only in concern, "You're...OK with this?"

"No." Krem's voice was cold and unapologetic, "But, at the end of the day, you _did_ save my life. Cost you an eye, too. The least I can do is bilge some water for yours." Bull smiled, reassured, and wrapped his arm around Krem's shoulder. His squeeze was tight enough that Krem could swear his chest binder was about to burst, "So, a name?"

Bull let go of Krem and nodded, "Yeah. I don't have much on her, but I was, at least, given a name. Isabela."


End file.
